The week of blown opportunities.

Devin Hester might be the best return man in the game, but he’s not even close to the top 4 wide outs that the Bears have. And that is not because the Bears receiving corps is anywhere close to good. They’re not. They’re actually not very good at all. Bernard Berrian is fast but had trouble holding onto the ball (except last week), Mushin Muhammed is old, a step too slow and rarely can be found at the end of a game, Rashied Davies is fast, and might be good (but probably not), Desmond Clark can disappear and Greg Olsen is probably the best threat the Bears have, and he’s a rookie tight end. Throwing Devin Hester in the game expecting that he’s going to make a difference on offense is just silly. He is definitely fast, and has wiggle that you can’t teach, but realistically, he’s Az Hakim. Unless, he can learn how to run routes, run under the ball, and eventually HOLD ONTO IT.

But all that about Devin Hester doesn’t explain the loss to the Giants. I think that Roberto Garza, Terrence Metcalf, John Tait, and John St. Clair might help to explain it, but I haven’t seen them around in a long time. They definitely didn’t show up on Sunday afternoon. Rex Grossman was sacked 6 times, and was under pressure the entire game. The offensive line is the problem with this football team. Even though Adrian Peterson ran well against the Giants, Lovie and Ron Turner didn’t seem to have the confidence to run behind that line very much as the game wore on. Terrence Metcalf cost the Bears at least 2 first downs, possibly 2 touchdowns because he couldn’t get his feet moving to plant his body in between Adrian Peterson and the guys in the white shirts. Perfectly executed screen plays, timed perfectly, called at the right time in the game, but the offensive line could not execute.

Before the game Tom Coughlin mentioned that it was going to be a field position game. It was, and the Bears won it. They did not capitalize. If it wasn’t a sack by the porous offensive line, it was a penalty. Converting any one of their many red zone visits into a touchdown would have iced the game. I’ve said it before and let me say it again. Please don’t think that the position that needs fixing most in the off-season is the quarterback. It’s the offensive line. No doubt about it.

And with that said, I think all Bears fans can look forward to the 2008 season. Because folks… this one is over.

As I’ve mentioned previously, I think the NFL Network is a bad idea that is purely a revenue generation scam by the NFL.

My problem this week is that I actually want to watch the game “featured” on the NFL Network. The Packers vs. the Cowboys is the biggest game this year, this side of the Patriots vs. Colts game a few weeks back. This game means a lot. Granted, it’s only one game, but it is most likely a preview of the NFC championship game. It’s a big deal. And the fat cats over at the NFL probably think that this will prompt the average NFL fan to go out and get the NFL Network. What they fail to realize is that it’s actually pissing off their most loyal fans… again. Cowboys and Packers fans are some of the most loyal, and most annoying (at least to me) fans in the NFL (btw, Oakland gets the nod for the Most Annoying). Just because they’re loyal doesn’t mean they’re going to bow down to whatever crazy idea the NFL has. They’re loyal, they’re not stupid (most of them).
The NFL needs to remember that the fans pay the salaries, and line the lunatic owner’s pocket’s with cash. You don’t need to alienate them. Sell the broadcast rights to a network. Even ESPN, it’s pretty widely available these days.

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The Chicago Bears did not deserve to win on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. The Bears were outplayed on both sides of the ball. The only reason they were even in the game was that Devin Hester is an amazing returner. For some reason, teams think that they can stop him. Todd Sauerbrun said that the Broncos were not going to be afraid to kick to Hester. I wonder if he thought that after the first time Hester ran by him to score on a punt return. Surely it couldn’t happen twice in one game Todd, could it? Well, I’m sure he was thinking that when Hester blew by him on his kickoff return for a touchdown. Truly amazing.

Besides Hester, it seemed like Brian Urlacher and Peanut Tillman are the only Bears who actually want to win the football game. Sure there were good plays by Adewale Ogunleye, and tying touchdown from Grossman to Berrian was a thing of beauty, but none of those players played with a sense of urgency.

I do have to say, Rex Grossman cannot continue to take the fall for the terrible offense. Their offensive line is horrible. HORRIBLE. Rex was running for his life every time he went back to pass. And even though the running backs the Bears throw out there are below average at best, even LT couldn’t run behind that line. I grew weary of watching Adrian Peterson (the bad one) run into the back of an offensive lineman. It’s just not the most productive way to run the football. And the dropped passes? Muhammed, Olsen and Berrian all dropped makable catches for first downs. That’s unacceptable. Grossman is getting the ball there. It’s hitting them in the hands people. Make the catch.

The defense looked lifeless in the first half, and tired in the second. I can’t blame them too much. They’re on the field way too much. I know Ricky Manning Jr. is not supposed to be a number one corner… but he got torched. And torched. And torched. Adam Archuleta can’t tackle, or cover. It turns out safeties in the NFL should be able to do both.

This team is not a playoff team. I know that Lovie thinks that if they run the table, and finish with 10 wins they’ll make the playoffs. If you ask me, they’ll be lucky to win one more game. Oh yeah, Ricky Manning Jr. just got torched again.

Oh Boy, the Bears could really use a win this weekend. They’re on a stage against their arch-rival, the Green Bay Packers. The only problem is, the Packers are 4-0 and the Bears are 1-3. This feels like these teams are heading in different directions. Brett Favre is hot, on the heels of his record-setting performance last week.

The Packers pass-happy offense (2nd in the NFL with 288.8 yards per game) will go up against a severely battered and bruised Bears defense. There are definitely a lot of injuries for the Bears but they also have not played well as a unit. They got blown up against Detroit last week, and Dallas the week before. A Sunday night game on national TV is bad news for the Bears. Brett Favre has always loved the limelight. I’m sure he’ll be jacked up to take advantage of the Bears porous defense. One gap in the Green Bay attack is at the running back position. They have had their share of injuries in the backfield and that will continue this week. The problem for the Bears is that the Green Bay rushing attack has been effective enough to open up the pass.

The other side of the ball for the Bears continues to be a mess (29th in total offense). Their offense is lost. Cedric Benson has been completely ineffective. Brian Griese was decent in his debut. He threw 3 interceptions in over 50 pass attempts. I’m not sure how the Bears showed a commitment to the run when they threw 52 times. But I digress. The Packers are in the middle of the pack (15th) against the run so far this year, yielding 106.2 yards a game. I seriously doubt the Bears will break the century mark against the Pack. They are however 23rd in the league against the pass. Unfortunately, the Bears don’t have much of a passing game. When you combine an ineffective quarterback and wide outs who consistently drop balls, it’s really hard to be successful.

Final score: Bears 9 - Packers 27

Brian Griese has a great opportunity to look like a great quarterback this weekend. The Lions have given up 8.6 yards a padding attempt this season. Last week the Eagles shredded the Lions defense. Brian Griese is not Donovan McNabb, and Cedric Benson certainly isn’t Brian Westbrook, but the Bears do have some talent on offense. Hopefully this week they’ll be able to rally behind their new quarterback.

The Lions on offense have been a little banged up as well. Calvin Johnson, the Lions first round pick, has a bruised back and is not sure if he’ll be playing on Sunday. The Lions have been electric on offense. They’ve averaged 6 yards a play this season. They may get Kevin Jones back this week too.

The Lions offense will go up against a Bears defense that is really banged up. Tommie Harris (knee), Adam Archuleta (hand), Lance Briggs (hamstring), Alex Brown (ankle), Tommie Harris (knee), Adewale Ogunleye (hip), Charles Tillman (ankle), Brian Urlacher (back), Nathan Vasher (groin), and Darwin Walker (knee) are all listed on the injury report this week. That’s 10 people. That is pretty much the Bears entire defense. Obviously all of these players won’t miss the game on Sunday, but they all will have some effect of their injuries. The Bears have relied on their defense to win games for them this season. They will now have to rely on their offense to help out their dinged up defense.

The Bears offense is not exempt from injuries. Adrian Peterson and Olin Kruetz both are on the injury report as well. We all know that Olin will play. He’s one of the toughest players in the NFL.

What can we expect from Brian Greise and the Bears offense?

• A limit on their mistakes. Griese should be able to protect the ball better than Rex did.
• This week the Bears running game gets healthy. Cedric Benson needs to run for at least 80 yards and score a touchdown.
• Mushin Muhammed has one more healthy week. He needs to start playing like the number 1 receiver on this team.
• Greg Olsen got into the gameplan last week against the Cowboys. Expect Griese to find Olsen over the middle of the porous Lions defense

Final score: Bears 17 - Lions 13

Finally we don’t have to hear the words from Lovie’s mouth, “Rex is our starting quarterback.” I couldn’t be more pleased. Make no mistake, I don’t think Griese will do well (except against the Lions this week), but I do think he’s better than Rex. Who will the media beat up on if the Bears lose to the Lions?

I apologize. There were 3 people who responded to my poll about who I should start last week at wide receiver. One of them was me. In a total bonehead move, I didn’t check this site when I was setting my lineup, and unfortunately I went with Bernard Berrian. Ooops.

So please forgive me.

Berrian didn’t have a terrible night (10pts), except for his slew of dropped passes. But Curtis went off. He scored 45.5 points. I throw myself at your mercy and I promise I’ll heed your guidance this week.

I will post the poll on Wednesday and would love to hear not only who I should play by responding to the poll, but also why in the comments. I can obviously stand to learn some from you folks.

What can be said for the Bears? They were terrible. Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys couldn’t have gone much worse.

• Brian Urlacher missed a ton of tackles.
• Lance Briggs hurt his groin.
• Cedric Benson still can’t run the ball consistently.
• Devin Hester probably could have made some nice plays if he was able to hold onto the ball.
• Bernard Berrian dropped some big catches.
• The defense didn’t look good, and it didn’t help that they were on the field way too long.
• Tony Romo and the Cowboys offense put up 460 yards on the Bears tough defense.
• Rex Grossman. Period.

What can we look forward to as Bears fans? When the quarterback change is made we’ll at least know what we’re getting. A mediocre quarterback. There are no illusions of grandeur with Brian Griese. He’s serviceable. He won’t win you anything, but he probably won’t throw three easy picks a game.

We can also look forward to more of a totally inept running game. The offensive line was overpowered and Cedric Benson is not the answer at running back. I long for the days of Thomas Jones. At least his teammates liked him.

And what about the defense? I think they are a bit overrated. This isn’t the same defense they had last year. The injury of injury-prone Mike Brown will continue to hurt this defense. Depending on how bad Lance Briggs’ injury is, this defense will have to rely on smoke and mirrors. They’re lucky that they won’t be going up against the Cowboys again. The only problem is that the Bears travel to Detroit this week. Their offense is a little dinged up, but they still have firepower. We’ll talk about how the Bears might want to play that this Friday in the Bears preview. Until then, we just get to wait to see if Rex gets benched this week.

This Sunday’s matchup between the Bears and the Cowboys pits one of the best offenses (Dallas) in the league against one of the best defenses (Chicago).

The Bears have proven to be able to keep running games in check. They have held LaDanian Tomlinson and Larry Johnson to low rushing totals in their 2 games this season. What the Bears need to be careful of is the passing attack of Tony Romo. Romo has gotten quite comfortable in the Cowboys offense. His main targets will be Terrell Owens, and TE Jason Witten. If the Bears can continue to keep the rushing attack of the Cowboys in check they should be able to also hold the key receivers in check.

On the other side of the ball the Bears are a mess. Rex Grossman has been terrible this year. He’s thrown 3 interceptions to only 1 touchdown. That has to improve. One way that it will improve is if the running game of Cedric Benson can get on track. He rushed for 101 yards and a touchdown last week against the Chiefs. The only problem with that is the Cowboys have yet to allow a rushing touchdown this season. They’ve given up an average of 92.5 yards on the ground. Not a good sign for a Bears team in desperate need of a rushing attack.

Key players

• Cedric Benson - He has to gain 90 yards and score a touchdown in the Bears expect to have a chance.
• Adam Archuleta - Archuleta or whoever will be covering Jason Witten. Witten will continue to be a focus of Romo. He needs to be shut down. 3 catches for 25 yards put the Bears in a good spot.
• Tommie Harris - Harris will be involved in stopping the run as well as putting pressure on Romo. Both are keys the Bears slowing down this offense.

Not only did the Bears drop their opening game to the Chargers on Sunday, they also lost defensive team captain and Pro Bowl safety Mike Brown and defensive tackle Dusty Dvoracek for the season.

Brown has struggled with injuries throughout his career. The Bears brought in Adam Archuleta to play strong safety and moved Brown to free safety. While he’s an emotional leader on the team, it seems that the Bears might not be willing to be patient with Brown’s recovery.

Dvoracek will be replaced by off season acquisition Darwin Walker.